I read most of the reviews on this game and was skeptical to rent it- After deciding to I am glad that I did. If you can't make it through the simple tutorial at the beginning then you don't deserve to free ride the 5 real mountains it offers. I think most of the bad reviews for this game were probably written by young kids who found it too difficult. STOKED is more of a snowboarding game for grown-ups. If you liked skate you will most likely enjoy Stoked. The graphics are the best of any console snowboarding game and the controls are simple and intuitive. The freedom to shred any part of the mountain is awesome! You also can really build up a lot of speed and it feels like it!!! Unlike Shaun White's where no matter how "fast" your going you always feel like your going the same speed. I really CANNOT believe how many bad reviews this game got on Gamefly... I am pretty sure I'm just gonna buy it from them.

First off, I'd like to say that I gave this game a LOT of time. I like to judge each game on it's own merits without comparing it to similar games. I will try to be as objective as I can

I will also admit that I am a 53 year old casual gamer and probably do not possess the skills or reflex time as many other gamers.

Stoked tries very hard to be a snowboard simulator. It is NOT an arcade snowboard game like Amped 3 or Shawn White

It appears to be designed for snowboarders

Here's the good
- True open-world snowboarding with no invisible walls
- Beautiful graphics
- Realistic Physics
- Appears to be bug-free
- A real challenge for the avid gamer
- runs are much more organic - do not feel contrived
- The $45 price tag of this game is refreshing compared to the standard $60 retail price.

Now for what bugs me
- A lot of snowboarding jargon without explanation of what it means
- steep learning curve
- you CANNOT play this game without the manual (I kept having to do internet searches trying to determine what the moves were)
- Punishingly unforgiving controls
- Beginner moves demand extremely awkward control switches of the analog switches - you need to use the right thumbstick to initiate the ollie jump then immediately reposition it to the proper grab position

I have been playing this game for probably 14 hours or so. I find that I will be attempting the same trick about 50 times before mastering it. This is NOT an exaggeration.

The tricks demand precise compliance and even the tricks on the first mountain are punishingly difficult combinations demanding extremely awkward control manipulation. I will do what I know to to be the correct move but...

- I did a 720 frontside instead of a 540 frontside
- I did a switch backside, not a regular backside
- I didn't position the right analog stick precisely enough to for the game to tell whether I was doing a tuckknee stalefish or a regular stalefish.

I am out of space so I will end the review